Bread slicing machine



July 23, 1940. J cRlNER 2,208,834

BREAD SLI CING MACHINE Filed Aug. 30, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 MNVENTOR.-gg-W I ATTORNEYS July 23, 1940.

H. J. CRINER BREAD SLICING MACHINE Filed Aug. 30, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

' ATTORNEYZSJ.

Patented July 23, 1940 PATENT OFFICE BREAD SLICING MACHINE arry J.Criner, Davenport, Iowa, assignmof one-half to A. G. Bush, Davenport,Iowa Application August so.

18 Claims.

My invention relates to bread slicing machines of the band-blade type.

The objects of my invention are to provide such a machine with improvedmeans for spacing and guiding the blades and for retaining the bread 6against displacement during-the slicing operation. v

I attain these objects by the means illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my machine, omittingthe feed and discharge tables;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of my machine but showing only a part ofthe blades;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the line 1-3 5 Of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail showing a portion of the lower set ofguide fingers; I

Figure 5 is a plan view of an alternate form of levers for adjusting therelative position of the a blade guides;

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail showing the fixed blade guide;

Figure 7 is a detail top view of the movableguide supporting means;

Figure 8 is an enlarged detail showing the relative position of thethree sets of guide members: Figure 9 is an enlarged detail showingpairs of fingers to act as guides in place of solid fingers;

Figure 10 is an enlarged detail side view of 30 threaded blocks toactuate the adjusting levers;v

Figure 11 is an enlarged detail top view of. the threaded blocks foractuating the adjusting levers in the form shown in Figure 5; Figure 12is an enlarged detail side view of the blade guides and adjusting leversand showing portions of the feed table and discharge table. Similarnumerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

My machine comprises a frame with base l3 having a supporting columnunited thereto, the

column being preferably T-shaped with rib l I and flanges 2 formedintegral and with bosses 3 and 4 at the upper and lower ends thereofregpectively, with a revolvable shaft mounted in the lower boss I and ashaft 8 which may be either fixed or revolvably mounted in the hub l.

A pulley or drum I5 is mounted upon the shaft l and a revolvable pulleyI4 is mounted upon the shaft 6. Band-blades ii are mounted upon the mpulleys preferably in Figure 8 form with the crossing point intermediatethe pulleys so that the blades at their crossing point and for a certaindistance each side thereof, run at right angles as shown in Figures 6and 12 to the portions 3 contacting the pulleys, the portionsintermediate 1939. Serial No. 292,631 (Cl. 14688) the pulleys beingtwisted in accordance with the common practice in crossed band-blademachines.

Intermediate the hubs 3 and 4 I form integral with the supportingcolumn, arms 80 and 3|, which extend forwardly from the machine andcarry transverse arms 30a and 3la which extend outwardly to about themiddle of the machine.

A shaft II is revolvably mounted in the hub 8 and in a suitable bearingformed upon the outer end of the transverse shaft 30a. A hand-wheel I0is rigidly secured upon the shaft ll adjacent the hub 8 by which theshaft ll may be manually turned.

A similar shaft I2 is similarly mounted in the hub -I and head 2! formedupon the inner end of the transverse arm 3la.

Slightly above the level of the shaft II I mount a crossbar l9 extendingtransversely of the machine with a foot I! which can be secured to theflange 2 by a bolt 23 or other suitable means. The bolt 22 extendsthrough a slot 23" formed in an extension of the web 2 so as to permitvertical adjustment thereof.

The upper face of the crossbar I9 is provided with a channel 21' asshown in Figure 6 and in 25 this channel are mounted a plurality ofadjusting members 48 carrying slotted fingers 21. One of the adjustingmembers may be rigidly united to the crossbar I! by a pin 44 as shown inFigure 4 or by other suitable means, and this may be the middle memberwhere the guide members on each side thereof are adjustable or it may bean end member where the movable members are all arranged on one sidethereof, it being obvious that my invention is applicable to one fixedmember and a series of movable members arranged at one side thereof orto an intermediate fixed member with the movable members arranged onboth sides thereof and movable in opposite directions therefrom.

Upon the shaft II I rigidly secure ,an arm 33', the upper end of whichis formed into a yoke that carries a pivot H and upon this pivot ismounted a casting iii a part of which extends toward the frame and hasunited thereto by bolts or rivets 24', a bar 32 extending approximatelyat right angles to the crossbar l9.

The bar 32 has pivotally united thereto and extending laterally atopposite sides thereof, a series of links 26 corresponding in numberwith the movable guide members 48 mounted in the crossbar it, and thefree ends of the links 26 are pivotally united to the guide member bypivot bolts 26', the upper portions of the guide members 48 u beingpreferably slotted for the introduction of the ends of the links 26.

The guide members 48 are provided with fin gers 21 having vertical slotsl6 formed therein.

I prefer to form the fingers with slots 16 as shown in Figure 4, but ifdesired, pairs of fingers I61: and 16b may be used in place of thesingle fingers, with a space I6" intervening between them through whichthe blades I6 may run.

Just above the fingers 21 I mount a feed table 52 preferably made ofthin sheet metal with a discharge table 53 to receive the bread as itpasses from the fingers. These tables may be positioned just above thefingers as shown in Figure 12 or they may be supported at a level withthe top of the fingers so as to avoid any interference with the progressof the bread and they may be either level or sloping as desired and inany other forms well known and in common use.

A similar slotted crossbar [1 may be similarly mounted upon the framewith similar guide members and fingers slidably mounted thereon, but inreverse position as shown in Figure 2.

An intermediate crossbar l8 may be similarly united to the frame asshown in Figure 2 having a series of guide members 50 slidably mountedtherein with slotted fingers: 28a united to the guide members 58 havingtheir ends upturned as shown in Figure 8 and these guide members may befree to slide lengthwise of the crossbar l8 and to be moved laterally bythe movement of the blades.

When desired the crossbar holding the intermediate guide members may bemounted upon arms 33a as shown in Figure '1, these arms being united tohubs 39 and 39' which are pivotally mounted upon the shaft 31, the shaft31 in turn being rigidly mounted in an arm Ia and formed integral with arib l and this rib being formed integral with the rib I and flanges 2 ofthe supporting column. When thus constructed, the fingers 28a will befree to move up and down so as to follow the contour of the bread andthe guide members will be free to move longitudinally of the crossbarl8a when impelled in either direction by the blades passing through theslots therein.

The shaft 31 may be mounted in a. suitable bearing formed in a movableblock 4|, which can .be vertically adjusted by the bolts 43 which passthrough a slot 42 formed in the bracket la.

The length and spacing of the links 26 and the spacing of their pivotconnections to the bar 32, are so proportioned with reference to thepositions of the guide members 48 that when the casting I3 is moved inone direction, it will force the connected ends of the links 26 to movetoward the guide bar l9, thus necessarily spreading uniformly the guidemembers and widening the spacing between adjacent guide members. So,when the arm 33' is moved in the opposite direction, it will draw theends of the links away from the crossbar l8 and cause the guide membersto be drawn toward the middle of the crossbar l9, thus uniformlynarrowing the spacing between adjacent pairs of guide members.

In Figure 10 I have shown an alternative form of apparatus for uniformlyadjusting the movement of the guide members in which two bars 46 and 41are utilized to move the links 26.

The inner ends of these bars are pivoted to a crossbar 31b united to thefiange and the opposite ends carry oppositely threaded heads 45pivotally united to the bars 46 and 41 respectively; The bar 41 isprovided with a short slot 41' in which the pivot Ha may slide lengthmeof the bar, the pivot Ha being rigidly united to the head 45.

In this form the shaft ll carrying the handwheel I is mounted in the hub8 and is provided with threads He and llb which run in oppositedirections so that as the shaft H is revolved, it will draw the heads 45nearer together or farther apart and these heads being united to thearms 46 and 41, will move the outer ends of the arms correspondingly,thereby exerting a lever action upon the links 26 and causing them tomove the guide members 48 on the crossbar 19.

The lever bars 46 and 41 and the links 26 and the pivotal connections ofthe links to the lever bars, are so proportioned and spaced that theguide members 48 will move on the crossbar l8 at varying distances andwill retain at all times a uniform spacing from each other, the slot 41'permitting sufilcient movement of the head-block 45 to prevent binding.A similar slot may be formed in the head-block in the bar 46.

The lower pulley I may be driven by a drivewheel or pulley 5 mountedupon the shaft 5 and driven by a belt or any desired form of primemover, and the blades themselves will act as belts to drive the upperpulley l4.

The spacing in most common use for bread slicing machines spaces theblades to cut slices of from three-eighths to five-eighths of an inch inthickness and in the drawings I have shown the fingers in the positionintended to space the blades half an inch apart.

When desired to cut thicker slices, the handwheels 9 and ID will beturned so as to force the guide members farther apart in the crossbarsl9 and I1. This can be done while the machine is running and so that theblades will adjust themselves upon the pulleys l4 and I5 and themovement of the blades will carry with them ighe intermediate guidesslidable in the cross- When desired to contract the spacing of theblades, the hand-wheels 8 and H! are turned in the opposite direction,thus pulling upon the links 26 and drawing the guide members closertogether. This can also be done while the machine is in operation andthe movement of the blades will carry with them the intermediate guidemembers in the crossbar l8.

Any of the usual forms of lateral guide for the bread and bread feed anddischarge appliances may be utilized with my apparatus and I make noclaim for any particular form of bread table or feeding or dischargeapparatus.

Itis obvious that the size, proportions and forms of the various partsof my invention may be varied to a large extent without departing fromthe spirit of my invention and I do not limit my claims to thepreciseforms shown in the drawings. For instance, the guide members maybe slotted themselves so as to avoid the need of fingers.

In the claims I use the term guide members" to refer to guide memberswith slotted fingers either attached or formed integral therewith aswell as to guide members comprising two spaced fingers to straddle eachblade respectively and to slotted guide members without fingers.

I claim:

1. A band-blade slicing machine comprising a supporting frame withspaced upper and lower blade-carrying drums, a pair of spacedlongitudinally grooved crossbars-united to the frame extendingtransversely of the machine between the drums, upper and-lower series ofguide members slidably mounted in the grooved crossbars respectively toengage, twist and space the blades in their cutting courses, upper andlower push bars mounted at right angles to the crossbars respectively,upper and lower series of spaced diagonal link bars, each link barhaving one end pivoted to its vcorresponding push bar and its oppositeend united to a correspondin gu de member, and means for forcing thepush bars in and out to uniformly expand or contract the spacing of theguide members.

2. A bread slicing machine as described in claim 1, one of the guidemembers of each series being rigidly secured to its crossbar.

3. A bread slicing machine as described in claim 1, the middle one ofthe guide members of each series being rigidly secured to its crossbar.

4. A bread slicing machine as described in claim 1, the middle one ofthe guide members of each series being rigidly secured to its crossbarand the guide members being arranged in spaced series on each side ofthe fixed middle member.

5. A band-blade slicing machine comprising a supporting frame withspaced upper and lower blade-carrying drums, a crossbar united to theframe extending transversely of the machine between the drums, a, seriesof guide members slidably mounted upon the crossbar to engage, twist andspace the blades in their cutting courses, a push bar mounted at rightangles to the crossbar, a series of spaced, diagonal link bars ofprogressively increasing length, each link bar having one end pivoted tothe push bar and its opposite end united to a corresponding guidemember, and means for forcing the push bar in and out so as to uniformlyexpand or contract the spacing of the guide members.

6. A mechanical movement for spacing and guiding moving bladescomprising a crossbar, a guide member rigidly united to the crossbar anda series of movable guide members slidingly mounted upon the crossbarand uniformly spaced therefrom, a push bar mounted at right angles tothe crossbar, a series of spaced, diagonal link bars progressivelyincreasing in length regularly, each link bar having one end pivoted tothe push bar and its opposite end united to a corresponding movableguide member, and means for moving the push bar longitudinally in eitherdirection whereby the spacing of the guide members is uniformly expandedor contracted.

'7. A mechanical movement as described in claim 6, the movable guidemembers being arranged in two similar series on opposite sides of thefixed guide member and the two series being arranged to movesimultaneously but in opposite direction.

8. A band-blade slicing machine comprising a supporting frame withspaced upper and lower blade-carrying drums, a pair of spaced,transverse supports united to the frame between the drums, upper andlower series of guide members mounted upon the transverse supportsrespectively, upper and lower push bars mounted at right angles to thetransverse supports respectively, upper and lower series of spaced,diagonal link bars adjacent the support, each link bar having one endpivoted to its corresponding push bar and its opposite end united to itscorresponding guide member, and means for forcing the push bars in andout to uniformly expand or contract the spacing of the guide members.

9. In a band-blade slicing machine the combination with a supportingframe, of spaced upper and lower blade-carrying drums, a pair of spacedcrossbars united to the frame extending transversely of the machinebetween the drums, upper and lower series of guide members slidablymounted upon the crossbars respectively to engage, twist and space theblades in their slicing courses, upper and lower push bars mounted atright angles to the crossbars respectively, upper and lower series ofspaced, diagonal link bars each link bar having one end pivoted to itscor responding push bar and its opposite end united to a correspondingguide member, and means for forcing the push bars in and out touniformly expand or contract the spacing of the guide members. 3

10. A combination as set forth in claim 9, the middle guide member ofeach series being rigidly united to its crossbar.

11. A combination as set forth in claim 9, one of the guide members ineach series being rigidly united to its crossbar.

12. A combination as described in claim 9 and an intermediate crossbarparallel to and between the other crossbars, a series of blade guidesfreely slidable thereon, and a pivoted support to carry the intermediatecrossbar whereby its blade guides may follow the contour of the uppersurface of the bread.

13. A band-blade slicing machine comprising a supporting frame withspaced upper and lower blade-carrying drums, a pair of spacedlongitudinally grooved crossbars united to the frame extendingtransversely of the machine between the drums, upper and lower series ofguide members slidably mounted in the grooved crossbars respectively,upper and lower push bars mounted at right angles to the crossbarsrespectively, upper and lower series of spaced, diagonal link bars eachlink bar having one end pivoted to its corresponding push bar and itsopposite end united to a corresponding guide member, means for forcingthe push bars in and out to uniformly expand or contract the spacingofthe guide members, an intermediate crossbar parallel to and between theother crossbars, a series of blade guides freely slidable thereon, and apivoted support to carry the intermediate crossbar whereby its bladeguides may follow the contour of the upper surface of the bread.

14. In a band-blade slicing machine, the combination with a frame, ofspaced upper and lower blade-carrying drums, a pair of spaced crossbarsunited to the frame .extending transversely of the machine between thedrums, upper and lower series of guide members slidably mounted uponcrossbars respectively to twist, space and guide the blades, means touniformly e pand or contract the spacing of the guide members, anintermediate crossbar parallel to and between the other crossbars, aseries of blade guides freely slidable thereon, and a pivoted support tocarry the intermediate crossbar whereby its blade guides may follow thecontour of the upper surface of the bread.

15. A mechanical movement comprising a supporting means, a bar supportedthereby, a plurality of guide members mounted upon said bar and slidablelongitudinally thereof, the contour of the bar and of the portions ofthe guide members mounted thereon being such as to prevent rotation ofthe guide members upon the bar but to permit the guide members to slidefreely thereon, a plurality of diagonal link bars of regularlyprogressively increasing length having one end pivotally united to theguide members respectively, the opposite ends of said link bars beingunited to a lever having one end pivoted on one side of the crossbar andits opposite end extended on the opposite side of the crossbar, thelength of the link bars and the position of their pivotal attachment tothe guide members and the lever being such that the movement of thelever upon its pivot in either direction will cause the guide members tomove uniformly spaced distances from each other at all positions ofadjustment within the limits of the permissible travel of the lever andguide members, and means to move the free end of the lever in eitherdirection.

16. A mechanical movement comprising an elongated support, a pluralityof spaced guide members mounted upon said support and freely slidablelongitudinally thereof, a plurality of diagonal links of progressivelyincreasing length each having one end pivotally united to itscorresponding guide members, the opposite ends of said links beingunited to a lever pivoted at one end near the middle of the supportextending at I right angles thereto, the length of the links and theposition of their pivotal attachment to the guide members and the leverbeing such that movement of the lever upon its pivot in either directionwill cause the guide membe s to be uniformly spaced from each other atall positions of adjustment within the limits of the permissible travelof the lever and guide members, and

means for moving the free end of the level within fixed limits.

17. A mechanical movement comprising an elongated support, 01' a slottedguide member rigidly united thereto, guide members mounted upon saidsupport and freely slidable longitudinally thereof at one side of thefixed member, a corresponding series of diagonal links of regularlyprogressively increasing length each having one end pivotally united toits corresponding movable guide member, the opposite ends of said linksbeing united to a lever having one end pivoted near the fixed guidemember and its opposite end extending outwardly approximately at a rightangle to the support, the length of the links and the position of theirpivotal attachment to the guide members and to the lever being such thatmovement of the lever upon its pivot in either direction will cause themovable guide members to travel at uniform spacing from each other atall positions of adjustment within the limits of the permissible travelof the lever and guide members, and means for moving the free end of thelever in either direction.

18. A mechanical movement as described in claim 17, and an additionalsimilar series of movable guide members with similar links and a leverarranged on the opposite side of the fixed guide member with means forsimultaneously moving the free end of the levers in opposite directions.

HARRY J. CRINER.

